Candidates Dan Vermut, Dan Capobianco, Esther Leacock, and Mark Morgenstern (left to right) were on hand for the Monday night election to fill two vacancies on the Board of Directors.
Unfortunately, only 63 votes were cast and that is not enough for the election to be considered to be valid. Some debate remains as to whether there is a need for 68 votes (20% of the total possible) or 171 votes (50% +1).Other possible irregularities in this Association-wide election were reported by residents: short notice; no "meet-the-candidates" night; lack of ballot distribution; possible lack of double envelopes for some ballots;
ballots not available for door-to-door solicitations.The BOD President, WH, announced that the election was postponed. There is a meeting scheduled with the Association attorney and with an attorney representing an individual unit owner to hash out the fine points of the election process. There are a number of legal documents that address the issue, and as in many legal matters the answer is not readily apparent.
Unit owner turn-out was lower tonight than in recent BOD meetings. But there were about forty people there and many showed strong support for the BOD.
Past BOD vacancies have been filled without an Association-wide election. Some have suggested that the current BOD avoid the hassles of the election and fill the vacancy through a BOD vote. But the BOD seems to genuinely want to involve the whole community in this process of filling vacancies.
Whatever else can be said about tonight, it is clear that the BOD is trying to respond to the needs of the owners and to represent their best interests. They may not be doing it perfectly (what BOD ever does?) but they seem to be sincerely making the effort to do the right thing. I think they deserve our participation and support.
